Still Believing – Supernatural’s Season 9 Finale

Season 9 has had me all over the map, as you’ve seen from my weekly episode reviews here – some things I’ve loved, some things I’ve hated – so I didn’t know what to expect of the season finale. I couldn’t help remembering some finale episodes in the past, especially the ones that left me gutted and unable to think about anything else for days (weeks?) afterwards. All Hell Breaks Loose….No Rest For The Wicked….Swan Song….I still can’t watch those episodes without reaching for the tissues. Last season’s finale was also powerful, both for Sam and Dean’s moment in the church and for the gorgeous shot of falling angels that closed out the season. Would Season 9 end with a bang like these, or would the strange pacing and sometimes disconnected storylines diminish its impact?

By the time yesterday rolled around, I ended up pretty excited – and more than a little nervous. Much of what amped up my anticipation was how excited Jared, Jensen and Misha seemed to be about the finale. At DCCon, when I asked Jensen if he was happy about where Dean’s storyline ended up this season, he said something so provocative (“Oh wow. They went there”) that I ended up eagerly awaiting the finale too. Then at the Upfronts, the boys said over and over that they were shocked by the ending, in a good way. So by 9 pm, I was so anxious I couldn’t even sit still to watch the damn show!

I had to reach for the tissues during “Carry On My Wayward Son” (which happens to me every year, to be honest). An hour later, I had cried and banged my fist and screamed NOOOOOO at the television more than once – clearly, for me, the finale was a good one. I know not everyone felt that way, and it wasn’t perfect, but for me, it worked.

Not all of it, of course. One of the annoying things about the episode (and the season) was the constant back and forth between the Winchesters’ story and the angel war story. I don’t know many fans who actually found the whole angel war story line anything but boring. Somebody take over Heaven and then stop talking about it! The problem for me was that the angel war didn’t mesh with the Winchesters’ story line sufficiently – it sometimes felt like I was watching two shows jammed together, with the pieces not really fitting. Instead of Cas being a bridge between them, he just got sucked into the angel war story and away from the Winchesters – the story I care about.

Also, too much Metatron. I hated Metatron like we were supposed to, but not in a love-to-hate sort of way, just hate. (Kripke once said to us in an interview that he always wanted to find out exactly how fans were hating a character – was it hate or was it love to hate? In this case, the former.) Intellectually I appreciated that he was an interesting character, with all his manipulations and hubris masking a deep insecurity, but he was more disturbing than scary (especially the scene in this episode where he goads his new followers into bludgeoning that angel – I actually cringed as they started pummeling him). Too much of the finale was devoted to Metatron’s monologues, when I just didn’t care that much. In fact, too much of the entire season was devoted to his monologues. How I wish we could have had half a season to explore Dean’s growing addiction to the Mark of Cain, hiding how much he craved it, coughing up blood when he didn’t have it, with Sam and Cas growing more and more concerned. The addiction was crammed into too few episodes, when it was the best part of the S9 story arc. We needed more time to build the suspense and concern, which would have made the finale episode so much more impactful. Too much time wasted on angel wars.

My daughter has been saying for a while now that Supernatural should “cut it out with the meta”. I haven’t agreed with her, but I think I’m coming around. It’s too much, too obvious, and too distracting. Especially during a finale episode that should keep me on the edge of my seat throughout, instead of yanking me out of the narrative to wonder if the fans have just been dissed for their People’s Choice Award loyalty. WTF? (I think the answer is no – that was Carver’s pointed comment to everyone NOT the fandom. How can this show be so popular and not garner the awards it so deserves? Where are its Emmy nominations?) But still, in the finale? Why? Give the meta a rest, folks. Even I don’t want this much of it.

But even with those complaints, this episode succeeded for me in the ways that mattered. Although most of the angel war story didn’t capture me, Gadreel as a character did – perhaps because Tahmoh is an incredible actor, or perhaps because his story was written with a lot of ambiguity, which kept it interesting. Gadreel and Castiel getting themselves into heaven with the Star Wars captive wookie trick was amusing, even if it didn’t work. And Gadreel’s last speech about protecting humanity, remembering their mission, was the first time I’d found anything about the angels story arc (as opposed to Castiel’s individual story arc) compelling in a long long time. I can’t ever forgive Gadreel for killing Kevin, but I believed his motivation in that scene – that he was sorry, that he did care. His sacrifice carried an emotional impact because Tahmoh sold that scene so well. And Castiel’s bitter “Do you believe him now?” was perfect.

What worked best in this episode were the emotional beats, and those are what’s most important to me. That’s why I watch this Show. I watch for the emotional connections – between the fans, between the characters, between me and the Show, between the actors. I fell in love in Season 2 with the complicated relationship between Sam and Dean because it’s unlike any real life relationship I’ve ever encountered and yet manages to be thoroughly realistic. It’s twisted and tangled and fucked up and yet powerful enough to save the world and bring me to tears again and again. I fell in love with the way Jared and Jensen played it, and felt it, and lived it – the way they became brothers in real life, as they’ve so often said, and the real emotion they invested as a result in Sam and Dean’s relationship. Last night’s episode reminded me of all that, all the reasons I’ve loved this Show for nine years – and then, in true Supernatural fashion, it gutted me just when I was most in love.

I may not have liked some of the places Jeremy Carver took the Show this past year, and I certainly didn’t like the way he paced it, but I do like his writing. The dialogue never threw me out of the story, Sam and Dean and Cas all sounded like themselves, and there was a sense of urgency to the episode that was (mostly) sustained throughout. The effects and the sets were gorgeous, especially that factory set that looked like it came straight out of the last episode of Dark Angel. SPN loves its graffiti. And a big shout out to Serge Ladouceur for the provocative use of lighting throughout the episode – especially the scene where Dean confronts Metatron. So much conveyed with those rich tones and changing colors about who Dean is and what’s about to befall him.

We didn’t get nearly enough Sam pov, but we finally got some. I loved Sam surprising Dean and Crowley by already being at the house of the woman Metatron healed. Smart!Sam is always a turn-on, and his biting comment to Dean about not needing a demon’s help to follow a clue was perfect. As was his snarky complaint about Dean’s “bromance” with Crowley, which Sam has clearly been resenting. Sam actually gets a few things off his chest, instead of just disappearing off camera to be angry.

Sam: Thought you might like to know that while you two have been playing odd couple, your real friends — like Cas and Gadreel — are out there right now risking their asses to help you win this fight.

(Okay, I sort of can’t believe that line made it into the episode – really, Mr. Carver? Gadreel is now Dean’s “real friend”? The guy who tricked Dean and killed Kevin??)

At least Dean seems to realize how ridiculous that is.

Dean: You mean the angel that took you for a joyride? The angel that slaughtered Kevin? That angel?

Sam: Who you let in the front door in the first place. You tricked me, Dean. Now I’m the one who wakes up in the middle of the night seeing my hands kill Kevin, not you.

I’ve needed to hear Sam say something like that for half the season! Finally he says something honest to his brother, instead of just lashing out and trying to hurt him. Finally he addresses the toll that the trauma of being possessed has taken on him, the PTSD symptoms that haven’t left him. We knew it was there, but Show wasn’t showing it to us – at all! It was only a few lines, but it was something. I wouldn’t expect Sam to go on and on in the middle of their big chance to take the fight to Metatron, but what he said rang true and hit hard. He stood up for himself, and he made sure that Dean heard him.

The conversation (non-conversation?) that Dean and Sam had before Dean went after Metatron also rang true – in fact, it felt like their non-conversations of the early seasons, when I was constantly yelling at my television screen for the brothers to GODDAMNIT TALK TO EACH OTHER! They don’t say much, but they understand each other. That telegraphic speech is one of the things that conveys just how close they really are, even though it also makes them crazy and causes ridiculous misinterpretations.

Sam asks Dean, “You good?” Again, the roles are reversed here. Usually it’s Dean asking Sam. This is the way they check in with each other, make sure the other is okay.

“Listen Sammy, about the last couple of months…”

“I know.”

Sam hears those words for the apology that they are, and at this point, that’s enough for him. He’s not excusing Dean or minimizing the impact of what Dean did, but he finally feels heard enough to move past it.

I also loved Sam’s protective outburst to Cas and Gadreel: This is not a bomb we’re talking about, it’s my brother!

One thing this season has done is sensitize me to every time Sam refers to Dean as his brother. I’ve always loved the way they both say it often, but now it carries extra meaning because Sam denied it for a while.

It’s been a long time coming – an entire season of the brothers not being on the same page – but it also felt insanely good to see Sam and Dean working together. To see Sam wanting to work together.

Sam: But if this is it, we’re gonna do it together.

Sure, Dean clocked him right after, but that felt like a protective gesture. Especially when Dean called Sam, all 6’4” of him, “little brother”. Pretty sure I got choked up just from that.

“Sorry little brother, not your fight.”

Then there’s the part of the episode that I didn’t see coming. I didn’t expect Dean to be so wrong about his ability to take on Metatron. I was taken in a bit, I guess, by how unassuming Metatron can make himself. And then, suddenly, he was beating Dean senseless.

I could go on and on about the scene that broke me. It wasn’t the ending, since I (like much of fandom) was about 95% spoiled for that. But Metatron stabbing Dean to death? That one I didn’t see coming. It shocked the hell out of me, and then it made me feel as if I were the one who’d just been stabbed in the gut.

I don’t know how to act, and I don’t understand how Jensen does it, but there was so much emotion in Dean’s eyes as he sat there knowing he was dying. I believed it all – from his wheezing gasp as the blade went in and then out, the way he sagged, weak from shock and blood loss.

The way he looked up at Sam, terrified and resigned at the same time, apologetic but still clearly convinced that his death was for the best – that he’s poison, that Sam is better off without him there, especially with the Mark on him. It broke my heart, all those feelings so clear on his face.

Dean Winchester, the righteous man, the one who loves so hard he never lets go, the one who keeps on trying even when the odds are stacked against him all the way up to Heaven – he sat there broken and dying and still not knowing his own value.

The mirroring of Sam’s death in All Hell Breaks Loose only made the scene more powerful for me (I know some have complained that it’s lazy storytelling and a plot rehash, but I like the parallels this season has presented. It seems purposeful, and I like feeling that the Show remembers its own history). The music cue – the one that makes me cry with just the first few notes – started playing, just like it did in Swan Song and AHBL and…. Yeah, I was gone. With Sam being so hurt most of the season that he couldn’t show his love for his brother, I needed to see just how much he cared – and Jared brought all that emotion and more to the scene.

The way Sam tries to talk Dean out of being mortally wounded, frantically and futilely trying to hold Dean’s own hand over his wound to stop the bleeding. Sam knows – he knows that it’s futile, but he can’t make himself believe it, any more than Dean could when he held a dying Sam in his arms.

“It’s better this way – the Mark. It’s making me into something I don’t want to be,” Dean argues, but Sam is having none of it. Everything is narrowed down to ‘my brother is dying’ and that’s all Sam can hear, or think, or feel.

Sam’s determination is so clear, so absolute, as he pulls Dean up, the brothers holding hands as they stagger across the warehouse.

“What happened to you being okay with this?” Dean asks, breathing labored.

“I lied,” Sam admits.

And Dean, for a moment, is Dean again, snarking back “Ain’t that a bitch.”

But in Winchesterese, both Dean and I know what Sam meant. In that moment, Dean knows that his brother loves him. That Sam would walk into hell for him, the same way Dean would for Sam. In that moment, there’s so much healing from all the hurts of this past season.

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When Dean, breathless and clearly failing, pulls Sam to a stop because he needs to tell him something, I completely lost it. The way he hauls himself up with such effort, in so much pain, to meet Sam’s eyes , raising a hand to cup his face and tell him brokenly, “I’m proud of us,” before he collapses against Sam, boneless.

It’s not “I love you,” because that’s not what the Winchesters say to each other. Instead, it’s everything Sam needs to hear. That his big brother is proud of him, always has been proud of him. And that there is an “us” – the best part of Dean, the part he’s able to be proud of, is the part of him that’s Sam’s brother. That Sam tries to smile for Dean absolutely broke me.

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And then Dean slumps, boneless, and we watch Sam’s reaction. Denial at first, the desperate hope that Dean will be okay, as Sam holds his face.

“Wake up, buddy. Hey, hey! Dean. DEAN!”

And then the realization, the overwhelming, primal grief. Jared looked ruined at that moment, utterly and completely.

I couldn’t see the television screen for a while after that.

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I think part of the reason it hit me so hard was because it immediately reminded me of what Jensen and Jared said about each other last week at the Upfronts. So much of the emotion the actors bring to Dean and Sam seems to be pulled from their own friendship, and those very real feelings.

Jensen about Jared: It’s been cool to… watch him become a man. I like to think I helped him along the way with advice and stuff, but I’m very proud of the man he’s become.

Jared about Jensen: There’s no one I would have rather spent the last nine years with… than this guy.

The actors talked about the love between their characters too in the flurry of interviews surrounding the Upfronts and the season finale.

Jared: I wanted to see Sam fight for his brother a little more…we see Sam in the finale be the brother that I would hope for him to be. … I think Dean will see that Sam loves his brother. Dean will certainly see that Sam is there for him and know Sam’s commitment.

Jensen on the finale: …with Jared’s tears all over my shoulder.

Now I know why.

The parallels with AHBL continue as Sam carries Dean back to the bunker and lays him on the bed , and I was sobbing just as ugly as Sam was by that time. The moment is tender and macabre and disturbing and heartbreaking and everything that I watch this Show for. Eric Clapton’s version of “Can’t Find My Way Home” only drove the sadness home more acutely.

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And then Sam sitting alone, drinking….storming into the dungeon the way Dean screeched the Impala toward the crossroads, demanding that another demon appear.

“Damnit, Crowley, you got him into this mess, you will get him out, or so help me God!”

Oh, Sammy.

I’ve seen some question whether the Winchesters are still the heroes of their own story. I get it, I do – Sam and Dean were left out of big chunks of the story this season, and the Show suffered for it. They failed again and again – even in the finale, it was Cas who had some success, shattering the angel tablet and outwitting Metatron. But there’s no doubt in my mind that Sam and Dean Winchester are heroes. It’s not success that makes you a hero – it’s the trying. The guts that make you keep going when any sane person would have given up. The refusal to give in even when there’s no reason to hope, even when you’re confronted with failure after failure after failure. That’s what makes someone a hero. Both Dean and Sam have earned that designation. The word applies to Cas too – all three have gone down the wrong path repeatedly, all have made mistakes, all are flawed. But they all keep trying, against all odds.

Jared wasn’t the only one who got a chance to show his character’s grief over Dean’s death. Misha also powerfully conveyed Castiel’s shock and despair over the news that Dean was dead. That the loss galvanized Cas and made him even more determined to defeat Metatron made sense to me, and re-anchored that part of the story arc. Castiel’s reaction to the news was understated, in the middle of the ongoing crisis, but the angel’s pain and heartbreak was there in his eyes.

Season 10 holds a lot of potential. I’m hopeful that Show will tell more of Sam’s hero’s journey. This is that point where all seems lost and hopeless, but when the hero gets to show what they’re made of. I’m hoping against hope for a Season 10 told from Sam’s point of view, where he gets to show what he’s made of and move heaven and earth to save his brother. I’m hopeful that Castiel’s admission that he doesn’t want to be a leader of Heaven, just an angel, will let his story be wound back into the Winchester’s instead of necessitating an entire other story arc that doesn’t have much to do with Sam and Dean. I’m hopeful that Dean will struggle with being a demon and try to hang onto his humanity, and that love will save him the way Cain’s love for Colette made all the difference.

It’s true that I desperately wanted Sam to be the one to save Dean at the end of this season, but I’m actually pretty damn satisfied with how hard he tried to save his brother. I wish we’d seen even more of Sam’s desperation and grief instead of cutting away to the Metatron stuff in the middle of such an emotional scene. But even with what we were given, Jared portrayed Sam’s devastation perfectly, and his determination to do whatever it took to bring his brother back. I’m hopeful that Season 10 will be all about Sam’s determination to save Dean. Please, please, let that happen, Show.

(If this were fanfic, Sam would save Dean with his own purified blood, the way he was about to cure Crowley in ‘Sacrifice’. They’re blood brothers, after all.)

I wanted it to be Sam and Dean at the end, but the scene of Crowley watching over Dean’s dead body was fitting. Eerily reminiscent of Dean watching over Sam in AHBL and yet different, with a gut-wrenching twist. I get the feeling that Crowley is still more human than he’s letting on, and that he has some pretty deep feelings for Dean.

“See what I see, feel what I feel, howl at that moon,” he says as he puts the Blade back in Dean’s hand.

Crowley wants what we all want – empathy. He wants someone to understand him, someone to be a companion. Perhaps he wants a Knight of Hell who will do his bidding too, but it feels like more than that. I think Crowley (like so many of us) has fallen for Dean. No, not like that. But I think there’s more there than Crowley is letting on, and I’m eager to see it play out. I’m intrigued about the potential of demon!Dean. It’s a shocking idea to the writers and the actors and the producers, but it’s been a favorite flavor of fanfic and fanart for years. We just never thought we’d get it in canon!

The more I think about Dean’s tragic arc this season, the more it hurts. Dean Winchester, the righteous man, who has hated demons and wanted to kill monsters all his life. It’s been his reason for living, and his greatest fear. Not being killed, but becoming a demon. When he was facing going to Hell, that’s what he was most worried about. And now the foreshadowing of past seasons (“And this is what you’re gonna become!”) has come about. Oh, Dean.

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The scene that stays with me, 24 hours later, isn’t the death scene that left me sobbing. It’s the quiet, tender scene that we only half saw. Sam carrying his battered, broken brother back to the bunker, back to their home. Laying him gently on the bed, wiping the blood from his face. There aren’t that many times when television or film portrays loss in a way that hits you almost too hard, in a way that makes your throat tighten painfully as you blink back tears. It doesn’t matter that I know there’s a Season 10 or that Dean won’t stay a demon forever. In that moment, Sam Winchester has lost his brother. And I’m crying with him.

Maybe the miracle is that this Show can still make me believe.

What are your thoughts on Season 10? And how damn many days do I have to wait for it?

I’ll leave you with a manip going around Tumblr – it’s not credited to us, but it’s actually our photo from Fangasm: Supernatural Fangirls (we asked Jared to have a ‘fangasm’ over Jensen and this was the result…) so it seems fitting that we include it here.

photo by Chris Schmelke, from Fangasm: Supernatural Fangirls

–LynnIf you need help getting through Hellatus, read more
about Supernatural in “Fangasm: Supernatural Fangirls” and
“Fan Phenomena: Supernatural” by clicking the order links
at the top of the page

I was torn between disappointment with the season and Metatron being left alive ..he’s so boring please don’t bring him back….and a broken heart over Dean and almost ready to give up on SPN but then your review helped me realise what I still love about the show. Thank you and think I can now face a rewatch.

I too am frustrated with the amount of time that was devoted to the angels & Metatron in Season 9, & last night. I almost found myself wondering whether Metatron’s rambling, over-long monologues were intentional..because it was Metatron “telling” the story. So he was gonna be the “lead” so to speak.

Intentional or not, I think Metatron has been a fail as a villain & character. Like you said: I don’t love to hate Metatron (like I do Crowley). I simply hate Metatron. He’s not redeemable & I think he eats up precious screen time that would be better spent with Sam & Dean..or really anyone else.

Like did we really need to spend so much time watching him pick out which outfit made him look “more pathetic” or him interacting so much with the homeless brigade? I don’t felt like those scenes added anything significant to the story.

I thought the Metatron PCA line was an exceptionally low-blow (do the writers just think Metatron can get away with saying anything??). We love this show, and we want to be able to give this show/the cast/the crew/the writers something back, no matter how small. So yeah, even though I REALLY don’t care about PCA’s, I think it probably invalidated & mocked a lot of fans who devoted a lot of time to vote for SPN.

I have complained ad nauseam this season about how the story seems to have shifted away from the brothers. It’s like the brothers are no longer the most important moving part in the story.

I felt like the brothers should have been front & center in the finale, and while their scenes were phenomenal, I felt like they were fighting for both relevance & screen time (but not the heart – Sam & Dean locked that down). Of all episodes to let the brothers really shine & take center stage IN THEIR OWN SHOW, the season finale should have been it.

I don’t mind the idea of expanding the SPN world, & digging deeper into secondary characters, I just don’t want it to be at the expense of Sam & Dean. And, this season, it sadly has been.

That said. I loved, loved, loved the Sam & Dean moments & those redeemed the entire episode for me (I’m easy like that!). I only wish we had more! I felt my heart in my throat literally from the second Sam met Dean & Crowely at the trailer. Gah, From then on, I was a puddle of sooooooo many brother feels.

Jared & Jensen just nailed those scenes. I will never get over their onscreen chemistry, & my frustration over the writers not utilizing it more this season!

I also really enjoyed the Gadreel & Cas interaction and I wish that relationship had started earlier on. There was so much potential there! I won’t touch the line about Sam calling Gadreel a friend, but I’m shocked how easily I switched from despising Gadreel…to kinda liking him.

I’m holding out every hope in the world that it will be Sam to save Dean in Season 10. It has to be, right?? Sam knows how to cure a demon! That set-up wasn’t for nothing, right?

I’m also super intrigued as to how demon!Dean will play out. Will he be a resistant demon? How much of our Dean will we still see? Will Sam & Dean still be partners? I really, really, really, need Team Winchester in Season 10 – no matter the circumstances.

Re. the PCA comment, I suspect that was Carver slamming the PCAs, not the fans who voted. The PCAs have been notoriously dismissive of SPN, even when fandom coalesces and storms the place. But he probably should’ve considered how that comment could have a less flattering connotation. I think I’m with Lynn’s daughter: lighten up on the meta, Show. You haven’t been doing it well lately. Tell your damned story; let us get lost in your world. Anvils? You haz them.

This was a fantastic review. You made me cry all over again. We were all so starved to see some brotherly love between Sam and Dean and we got some and it was profound but it was not enough for my liking. I am so hoping that Season 10 will compensate for this deficiency. One thing that bothers me is that if Sam was lying all along about saving Dean why did he take so long to reveal it. It seemed almost sadistic for him to hold back like this when he saw how much pain Dean was in and saw how he was driven to make reckless moves like taking on the Mark of Cain. I thought it was out of character for Sam to hold a grudge this long. I understand it was to build up to this finale climax but really it was not what I expected Sam to do. I think the writers should of at least provided us with Sam’s point of view as he seemed out of synch with the main story for most of this season….almost like his character was demoted in importance. I will take up your suggestion about reading your books to help ease the Hellatus.

So spot on I just ….*flaily hands* METATRON? can just disappear forever. I would have been down with him being killed. I like you, just HATE his character, he really took so so much screen time away from the main story of our boys! and we have had so little of the real ‘boys’ time for this whole season.

Also, (and I’m no doubt gonna get hate from this) the angel storyline really needs to go, I was hoping that Cas and his feathered friends would leave for good. Their story didn’t mesh well in the season with the brothers and it really did feel like they were two totally different story lines. The angels storyline has become something that makes me yawn, and I don’t want my show to bore me like that, it’s never done that before, and it hurts. So did that PCA dig. I looked at my son and just said “Did they really just say that? As someone who did vote, it felt like I was being mocked. I didn’t sit there all day every day voting, but I did vote multiple times and the way that line came across wasn’t very pleasant at all.

Jared and Jensen DID kick it in the ass though, and I’d like to think Kim Manners would have been proud of how good they were, (even though as you said we really needed more perspective from Sam and more of how the MoC was affecting Dean this season…soo much potential that was NEVER addressed. I hope Season 10 gives us back what we love so much about the show, cause I feel we lost a lot of it this season, and there was so much potential after the 8×23 finale. That was beautifully shot, and the boys !! I mean the scene in the church, Dean saving Sam!! and Sam looking so so wrecked! and then from then on our brother moments were so cruelly ripped from us for the rest of the season (with one or two exceptions).

I an so excited to see where Demon Dean takes us, how far will Sam go to heal him, does Dean go back and keep his word and kill Cain? so much to think on and work with, and that’s exciting. I mean now heaven is open again, is Kevin there now or are the souls still lost?

“I hope Season 10 gives us back what we love so much about the show, cause I feel we lost a lot of it this season, and there was so much potential after the 8×23 finale. That was beautifully shot, and the boys !! I mean the scene in the church, Dean saving Sam!! and Sam looking so so wrecked! and then from then on our brother moments were so cruelly ripped from us for the rest of the season (with one or two exceptions).”

I agree with so much of what you said. From the emotional moments to hating Metatron to being bored by too much cut-away to angel scenes. I too wish we got more of Sam breaking down over Dean, shots of him maybe carrying Dean to his room in the bunker or something. I also want more Sam POV next season. We desperately need it, I feel, to understand his mindspace better. And since Dean was always the eyes of the viewer since s1, now that he’s a demon we should get Sam’s perspective. I am intrigued by what you said about Crowley, him wanting a partner. I didn’t even think of it like that. I just assumed he’d played Dean all along to be his right hand man to fix hell but maybe it’s more than that. Aww, he just wants a friend! lol

Lastly, I HAVE to know where you found these J2 quotes. They said this stuff about e/o?! Where was I and how the hell did I miss this? Plz tell me there’s video or something!

“Jensen about Jared: It’s been cool to… watch him become a man. I like to think I helped him along the way with advice and stuff, but I’m very proud of the man he’s become.

Jared about Jensen: There’s no one I would have rather spent the last nine years with… than this guy.”

Great review. Normally I would be analyzing and re-analyzing everything by now. And immediately after the episode I did call my friend for a bit of that. But now, all I can feel is utter despair.

I watched the show again before I went to bed, then again this morning. I cried off and on all morning! I thought watching some TNT eps would lighten my mood. That made it worse! It felt like watching home movies after a family member has died.

Like I said, initially I was analyzing and I was on an adrenaline rush because of the all day anticipation and I just knew Dean was going demon. So I was kind of in a state of euphoria/denial I think. That was my ‘this show is awesome’ feel for what it does to us. The boys totally wowing us with their performances and the best crew/writers ever. I was telling all my friends how wicked awesome the finale was.

Now, as if these characters are real, I am in total mourning. I am so saddened over this happening to Dean. My logical brain knows it was a great twist for the show and probably a needed one after 9 years. Risky, brave and necessary to shake things up. But…….

My emotional brain is a wreck!!! Oh Dean, Dean. Why did you leap without asking more questions about the moc. What will you become now? Will you be aware of what is happening? So many questions. He’s not possessed, he IS a demon. How will this work? I’m so confused, scared and somewhat excited, all at the same time. Will Sam know? Will Cas see the demon? Can Sam cure you? How long will you be a demon? I can’t go long without our ole Dean. I already miss him. I need to go through all the stages of grief and it will suck!!!!! I feel such a loss and even if/when you go back to the real Dean, will it really be you? How can you be the same.

OMG. I can’t believe TV characters are totally sending me over the edge! Yes, I know it’s fantasy, but my investment in this show and characters is ALL IN. At this point I don’t even care about the analysis, maybe in a week I will. I just want to cry for what Dean has lost and become. The one thing he feared most. GAWWWWWD.

Jared and Jensen truly deserve Emmy’s. But part of the beauty of all of this is knowing they don’t need them. They are doing this for the show, the fans and the characters THEY LOVE. And of course their families.

“I’m proud of us.” Said it all, Sam and Dean, Jared and Jensen. They just killed it. Knowing Dean can’t really die didn’t make any difference. I was a crying mess. On my knees rocking on the floor after coming up off my chair and putting my hands on my head as Dean does in distress. These guys make it real.

I need to stop so I can calm down and get to bed. Sorry for the rambles. Today was so much worse than last night and I wasn’t prepared for that. I need my logical brain to take back control so I can work tomorrow.

Thanks for being there for me to share.😦 🙂 I don’t know which I feel! HA

I’m so with you. I’m a wreck, I was physically shaking yesterday. I woke up wishing it was a dream, feeling sick when I realised it wasn’t. I feel angry at the non-fandom part of the world that’s just carrying on as normal, I want to scream at people, don’t you know Dean Winchester died, then came back as a demon, his worst fear! I can’t watch old shows, it’s too painful and raw for me, I can’t bear it. But at the same time there’s part of me that’s proud that our show did this, they managed to shake us up so much after nine seasons. It’s going to be a long, long summer. I need Dean to be ok, I need to make sense of it, but right now I’m still reeling from it all.

what hurts me most right now that Dean’s beautiful green eyes are black now! his biggest fear has come true..he does not deserve this! sure mytharc for Dean..that’s great..and Jensen is going to outdo himself yet again for sure..but at this cost!
reading your review brought me to tears again..people have been doubting Crowley’s humane feelings but I too believe that element is there! season 10 sure does hold big prospects and the Show has mever failed to more than impress us so lets see…but I still feel numb, empty and soul shattered!

I have read this review twice now and I think I will continue to read every time I want to give up on the show (which stage I was virtually at), it has helped me feel better. Although I was quite gripped in parts of this episode I just knew that it was all going to be too little too late and it was. I have been heavily invested in SPN for many years now and it is the Winchesters that brought me in and for which I watch, they don’t need to always be on the same page as each other but they need to be front and centre (previous posters words) of the story and in S9 they have been non brothers for virtually the whole season so I have only been able to enjoy small parts of episodes. The angel storyline as many have said has been a complete bore and if this is the only way they could keep Castiel in the series then I really hope they can come up with a better story for him in S10, personally I am only interested in Castiel as he relates to the Winchesters but if he is going to be the third lead then I guess they will be giving him more time, hope they can pull that off (shakes head in doubt). Why they had to give Metatron so much dialogue and time in the finale is beyond me, it echoes the whole season where at times the Winchesters were so apart from the story both in screen time and in context. Unfortunately for me I really really did not want Dean to go down the demon route, Crowley’s bitch! Dean’s worst nightmare. Also it means that we are at the brothers not being able to be brothers for a while in S10 – and after a whole season of that scenario I don’t want to go through any more. So I will read and tear up at your review and try and look forward to S10.

“I have been heavily invested in SPN for many years now and it is the Winchesters that brought me in and for which I watch, they don’t need to always be on the same page as each other but they need to be front and centre (previous posters words) of the story and in S9 they have been non brothers for virtually the whole season so I have only been able to enjoy small parts of episodes. ”
THIS

“Also it means that we are at the brothers not being able to be brothers for a while in S10 – and after a whole season of that scenario I don’t want to go through any more.”

So… Like you I was a bit torn about this season. And I’m really, REALLY bored of the whole angel-angle, though I love-hate Metatron. I wouldn’t have minded him if the rest wasn’t so damn boring.

I liked the parallels. Sam locking Dean into the dungeon like Dean locking Sam into the panic room – Cas saying they could use Dean like Bobby saying they might use Sam. Both brothers adamantly refusing to let that happen (though we never see if Dean would’ve come around if that stupid angel hadn’t let Sam out (yes, I’m still pissed about that! Very, very pissed!) and we’ll probably never see what Sam would’ve done if he’d known it might cost Dean his soul)

Of course, the AHbL-parallels are easiest to see, and though Jared was amazing, it’s not just my inner Dean-girl that says there is nothing more heartbreaking than Dean’s reaction over Sam’s death. Not through all the heartbreak I’ve seen, not through every heartshattering moment.

Anyway, moving on.

Moving on to Crowley.
Ohhh, how I love Crowley. I can’t even hate him, even though he’s an evil bastard. He’s a bit like Meg – too loveable in their evilness to hate them. And so human, so much more human than he would ever admit. Selling his soul for a bigger dick? That’s human through and through.

I loved that scene with him watching over Dean. I loved it, because it was another parallel – of Dean watching over Sam, of John watching over Dean – and because it showed me what I’ve always suspected: Crowley has a weak spot for the Winchesters, and probably especially for Dean.
He’s always been more lenient towards them than necessary. He’s let them live too often to just be coincidence, when it would have just taken a fingersnap to take them out.
So yes – I think he was honest about not knowing exactly what would happen (though certainly he’d not have backed away if he’d known – he’s not THAT much of a schmoop😉 )

I’m sorry to see Gadreel die. To be honest… I can forgive him killing Kevin. Not so much for doing it as Sam, but well… I have cared a lot more about other characters (who all died, too!) to get over it. and Gadreel’s storyline was very compelling, very believable. He wanted to do better, to get his good name back. To show the angels they were wrong with locking him up and torturing him for eternity – I can honestly understand his motive. He lost most of my sympathy when he killed his one friend. But he tried to make up for it, he tried to do better, to BE better. So I’m sad he died and his redemption was only witnessed by two angels.

What I wish for season 10?
More MotW-stories. Because that is where in the past, the character-development happened. Where in between the monster and the saving, we got to learn about the brothers, about their relationship and their differences.
I don’t care whose POV it will be – though as long as we get the focus back where it belongs (and hell, give Cas his own show – we can have our boys back that way AND make Cas and his followers happy) and … honestly, I wouldn’t mind Dean staying a little demonic for a while.

I thought I was getting better…. Never has a tv show affected me like this! Your review brought me to tears, again! Listening to Jensen sing Angeles, yesterday, brought me to tears. Oh my Chuck, I’m a mess! Never has a death scene in the show ripped me apart more. That one line “I’m proud of us” carried SO much forgiveness and acceptance in it, I was overwhelmed. They started playing Dean’s Theme music and I was bawling before the line ever left his lips. The shock on his face when the blade hit home… Like you, I felt as if it pierced my heart as well. It hurt so much to see Dean still not seeing his own value. But the parallel of he and Sam both thinking they have become monsters and death as the redemption for it…hurt.

Maybe the season has been full of failures, as you put it, for the boys, to push home the message that when the family isn’t meshing, nothing else does either. This season has been about break up and anger, grief and hopelessness. The boys, in the end overcame all of that, pressed on, saw the value in each other, and although they didn’t ‘succeed’ in their task, they succeeded in mending their relationship. and in the end, that’s really what matters….”screw destiny, right in the face.”

Personally, I don’t think the PCA line was a slap in the fans faces. I think it was their way of saying that SPN is Emmy worthy and screw those that decide such things.

Lastly, Crowley… I still have a hard time reading him. I DO think he has a thing for Dean. It’s almost as if he’s ‘parenting’ him like the son he lost. Him The whole scene in the cafe where he gets upset that Dean only orders a coffee. How fatherly of him. Yet, at the same time, since when is Crowley NOT scheming? I liken him to a gardener, at the end of the episode. One who has been nurturing a fruit tree for years and is finally seeing the first buds of fruit. He watches, almost greedily, as he eggs on Dean to open his eyes and see what he sees. I will find it interesting to see how his and Dean’s relationship continues in season 10.

Oh my gosh. What am I even to say. I am so lost for words and can’t even hold back my tears!!!

” the best part of Dean, the part he’s able to be proud of, is the part of him that’s Sam’s brother. ”
That sentence has broken me even more. THERE ARE NO WORDS TO EVER DESCRIBE WHAT SAM&DEAN MEAN TO ME!!!

All I can say is THANK GOD for sammy&dean and jensen&jared!!! . I’m just going to try and contain my tears and just bask in my love for them.

Thank you for a beautiful review of our sammy and dean in this episode.

Every time Metty started a monologue I was reminded of that scene in the comedy film ‘Airplane’ where the old lady hangs herself because she cannot take it any longer. I was beginning to think his evil MO was talking people to death. But finally we saw the mettle of Metty as he beat Dean to a pulp.

I didn’t like him. He wasted my time. The whole ‘Metty visits a Homeless Compound’ was a waste of time. I wanted him to die. I wanted Gadreel to live (way more intriguing character). I wanted Abaddon to live too – the angry ginger and Crowley make a fine fun pair.

I wanted more Sam and Dean dialogue. I tune in to see the trials & tribulations of Sam and Dean. But at least we saw them talking and expressing… finally!

Except for Metty – I thoroughly enjoyed this finale. I will watch again and again with wine and Kleenex by my side and my finger on the FF button for whenever Metty comes on scene.

I honestly think JENSEN SHOULD BE NOMINATED FOR AN EMMY (yes I’m shouting). Jared is great, but Jensen is extraordinary. The guy can convey a thousand emotions without even opening his mouth.

Fingers crossed we’re not getting heaping helpings of monologue Metty, squabbling angels or Crowley’s irritating son Gavin next season. Let’s get back to the gritty creepy bitch/jerk days of earlier seasons. I think it’s still possible.

I was so shocked by Dean’s death, it floored me. But I could’ve coped with that. What’s devastated me is demon Dean. I cannot cope with the fact his worst fear has come true. It hurts so badly. I know it was hinted at, especially Jensen’s eye opener comment, but I didn’t believe they would go there. I didn’t think they’d do that to such a loved character. I’m conflicted because I have to give them kudos for delivering such an emotional punch, but I’m still just so upset. I need time to come to terms and reflect on how I feel. What worries me the most is I can’t see how Dean will ever recover from this psychologically, even if he is physically cured quickly. My heart just breaks for Sam and Dean.

I, unlike 95% of the fandom, was not spoiled for Deanmon, and therefore it hit me like a punch in the gut. Both his death and the final scene felt like a scene from a horror movie to me- the main character is armed and dangerous, ready to take on the monster, while the whole time the monster is right behind her. And what a monster it is.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I LOVE season nine. I thought we had a lot of high quality episodes (with some exceptions). I, like everyone else in the fandom, would have the brothers hugging 24/7 if we could, but I enjoyed the chance to address some real issues about their relationship. Dean seriously violated Sam’s trust and consent, and he needs to realize that their relationship is a two way street. While I wish that we had more time to work out their issues, the Mark of Cain cut it short, and I LOVED (caps lock again) the Mark. It was a great storyline for Dean that worked well with his character, evil!Dean is something that’s always been hinted at but never fully explored. It’s always more terrifying when it’s someone you love that’s doing horrible things, and Jensen made Dean honestly frightening.
In terms of villains, I think we had great ones this season- everyone loved Abbadon, and while I was sorry to see her go, I think she had a good send off. I was worried about Crowley sticking around for season 9 since I thought that he was overused in season 8, but they handled him well. We were constantly left dangling as to whose side he was truly on, and the Crowley/Dean odd couple worked surprisingly well. And…*blushes*…I liked Metatron. I thought that he was a ‘little piece of shit’ villain, smarmy like Magnussen from Sherlock or Umbridge from Harry Potter. The writers knew that we didn’t like him as much as Lucifer or Dick Roman (who is one of my favorite villains), so they were careful not to overuse him. I really liked his final, climatic rise to power, and thoroughly enjoyed his speech to Dean. (I also loved all the meta references, the only one that I thought didn’t work was the “Just because you know everything about them…” one a couple episodes back. That one just felt like a slap in the face to the fandom)
I had conflicted feelings about Cas’s storyline. I really liked that we got to see more of Team Free Will working together, and I loved the fact that they expanded Sam and Cas’s relationship. While I wish that Cas could stay an angel forever, I liked him as a human and was a little confused as to why TPTB would make him an angel again. While I’m saving the finale for the second part of this post, I will say that I didn’t like the end of Cas’s storyline. I thought it was great that Cas took down Metatron, but I thought it was very OOC for Cas not to rush to Sam and Dean’s sides as soon as Metatron told him that he killed Dean. I also didn’t like how Cas will die, not fall if he looses all his grace, as it makes me uneasy about TPTB’s plans for him in season 10…please don’t kill off one of my all-time favorite characters!
So, TL;DR. I loved season nine. But at first, I wasn’t sure if I liked the finale.
I didn’t see Dean’s death coming at all, mostly because I thought that the writers had killed Sam and Dean off every way they knew how, and do to it again would be repetitive. (Boy, was I wrong.) So when Metatron started beating the crap out of Dean, I was scared, in a good way. We’ve seen this amped-up Dean all season, but Dean’s fight (or lack thereof) against Metatron was a brutal reminder that even the best hunter in the world couldn’t hope to take on God. And when Metatron slowly but surely drove the blade in…I think I was hyperventilating.
And then finally, thank god, we get to see Sam DO something. All season long he’s been jerked around by Dean, and in the final episode he finally stood up, called Dean out on his bullshit, and proved to him that protecting each other is a two way street. Like the rest of the fandom, seeing Sam frantically trying to save his brother did funny things to my heart. But, unfortunately, Sam was a little too late. Now, I was hoping that Sam would manage to save Dean, because he wasn’t able to save him from Hell or Purgatory. I think that the final hint (to Dean) that he’s not a little kid anymore, would be to save his brother. Well, given the season 10 setup, we might get that…more on that later.
So Dean dies (in a freaking wonderful parallel to AHBL part 1). Cas defeats Metatron but is left floundering in Heaven. Sam’s ready to make a deal. And everything is so expected, which is why there’s one card that hasn’t been played yet.
I think that the final scene is one of the best SPN scenes of all time. Mark Sheppard’s performance is careful, suspenseful, never giving away more than he wants us to know. There’s no dramatic music, no intense lighting, because there doesn’t need to be. We’re left unsure of Crowley’s involvement in the whole affair- was he always hoping to turn Dean into a demon? Or is he just taking advantage of the situation? We’ll have a very interesting Dean/Crowley dynamic next year, no matter what.
And then Dean opened his eyes, and hearts across the globe stopped.
I think making Dean into a demon is a genius move. Some people have complained that it’s weird to have Michael’s vessel turning into a demon, but I think it’s demonstrative of the power of free will. The same qualities that made Dean Michael’s perfect vessel is what drove him to take on the MoC; the fighter’s heart, the urge to protect, to do whatever it takes to defeat the monster. It is odd to have Dean, not Sam turn completely into a demon, but that’s also demonstrating how far the brothers have come and how much they’ve changed.
I just can’t shake the beautiful tragedy of the entire season. On the surface, our heroes won. Abbadon is dead, Metatron is defeated, the angels are back in Heaven and Kevin is avenged. But at what cost? Dean died, and his friends failed to save him. And then he was turned into the very monster he tries to kill. Dean would probably have rather died than become a demon.
So for season 10, I’d like to see Sam and Cas teaming up to save Dean, with a nice healthy nose of conflicted, changing-but-fundamentally-good-on-the-inside-Dean. He’s still got the Mark, which makes him even more dangerous. I got cheated out of my Cain and Able-esque battle between Sam and Dean, but maybe I’ll get that next season. (I’m sick of seeing Dean get the crap beaten out of him. First Sam, then Cas, then Metatron…I want to see him hurting someone he loves. Am I evil? Probably.) And then, figure out what to do with Cas- having him oscillate between human and angel all the time is getting on my nerves. I’d like to see Cain come back as a major player, maybe the main villain. (Because while I like this new Crowley, I don’t want him as the Big Bad of the season again.) After that…it’s season 10! Let’s see some wish fulfillment! Bodyswap episode, human Impala, get my drift?
So yeah, that’s my 1000 word dissertation on the season/ season finale. (Now, to figure out how to tap into that much productivity for school…). I know some fans were unhappy with the season, but I wasn’t, and I’m super pumped to see what comes next.

I agree that having Cas oscillate between human and angel is getting old. I’d like to see him as human. Permanently. I think we (and Misha!) were really cheated this year. Cas can still be himself without the mojo.

Cas is an angel, it’s not just a character trait. It defines who he is, & it is what he has been for thousands of years.

I’m not sure what the writers would do with human Cas that hasn’t already been explored this season. I think Cas’ human experiences this season were to reinforce that he is truly destined to be an angel – that is his purpose & where he belongs.

I think being human allowed Cas to become a better angel.

I don’t see how the writers could get away with human Cas for more episodes than they did. You can’t just throw Cas in the back seat of the Impala & have him take on cases with the brothers.

I think part of the reason I want human!Cas is because I am tired of seeing him relegated to Deus ex Machina. I want Cas to have more of a purpose than just being a magical hand-wave to fix everything for the Winchesters, and I feel like that when he’s juiced up, that’s all the writers have him do.

While I agree that being human allowed Cas to become a better angel, the desire for him to be human is character-driven for me, in that it doesn’t allow the writers to cop-out.

Castiel is one of my favorite characters ever. Full stop. And I don’t think he’s been given the chance to live up to his full potential since the Kripke seasons. Part of this is just because he wasn’t around as much in 6 or 7. But hoo boy did I love Falling!Cas.

I just want to see my favorite angel (and yes, I’ll always think of him as an angel) get the treatment he deserves.🙂

Oh my, I have so many thoughts. And I still can’t find the words to articulate them. I’m an unapologetic Dean!Girl, and this episode reminded me why. Jensen was phenomenal-I love how much he can convey with the tiniest changes in facial expression. The slight widening of his eyes when the angel blade went in…the sadness when Sam came running in…The fact that he looked like Dean for the first time since he got the Mark… it’s all heartbreaking. (Of course, seeing the patented Sam Winchester Ugly Cry over his brother’s body certainly wasn’t easy to watch.)

I want Cas to become integrated with the Winchesters again. Whatever happened to Team Free Will? Words cannot describe how badly I wanted it to be Cas standing in the doorway to Dean’s room, rather than Crowley. I feel like they could’ve gone for an additional gut punch by showing more of Cas’s reaction to Dean’s death. Sam has seen Dean die hundreds of times. It never gets easier. But this is the very first time Cas has “seen” Dean die since he raised him from Perdition. What must that be like?

Admittedly, I’m a Destiel shipper, so there’s a lot I could say on that front. But one thought that I saw on Tumblr that seems to exist just to break my heart that much more, is that Cas wants to “just” be an angel not for power, not to lead, but to not have to feel the pain of Dean’s death. Ow, my feels.

We all saw Demon!Dean coming. I don’t think any of us were surprised. I’m just a little terrified of how the writers will handle it. It’s MONUMENTAL that Dean said “I’m proud of us,” as opposed to “I’m proud of you (Sammy).” Does this mean that Dean finally realized at least a little bit of his self worth? That maybe he’s not poison? Was having some semblance of forgiveness from Sam really all he needed to start to repair himself? How will this be damaged by being demonic? Dean sees the world as very black and white. There’s good, and evil, and black eyes are evil no matter what. What kind of Dean Winchester self-loathing will we be subjected to? Will he still have the nigh insatiable bloodlust now that he’s become a demon? What kind of powers can we expect from him, since he is a demon, and not just possessed? Perhaps most importantly, will he try to hide this from Sam, and if so, does he really think he’ll succeed? (I don’t imagine he’d be too successful, since he wouldn’t be able to, oh, dig around in the Impala’s trunk, or draw Devil’s Traps, or make salt rounds, or get splashed in the face with holy water without reeling in pain.)

While I wholeheartedly agree that it would be great to get to see a more Sam POV s10, I don’t want it to be at Dean’s expense. Meaning, this is the first storyline that has been truly Dean-centric. Every time they started down the path, it’s like the writers second-guessed themselves and gave Sam an equally or more important story, and because the show is Dean POV, we focused on that. I wish there had been more done with Dean’s PTSD, or alcoholic tendencies, or any of those small but important character traits that make up Post-Hell Dean Winchester. Jensen has spoken about how there were storylines of Dean’s that he feels were never fully explored. I hope it doesn’t happen again. I’d be fine with Demon!Dean lasting only half a season a la Soulless Sam. But what I really want is for Jensen to have an opportunity to play the hell out of a new version of Dean. The elder Winchester has always been steadfast and constant, with the brief exceptions that only stick around for an episode or so, tops. (Endverse!Dean, DreamDemon!Dean, Dean Smith, LeviaDean, ShifterDean, etc.) Sam/Jared has gotten much more variety. (Samifer, Addict!Sam, Soulless!Sam, Sam Wesson, Samzekiel, Djinnverse!Sam, LeviaSam, etc.)

Obviously, finales are supposed to create a lot of questions. I just hope that the writers can stay on track in s10 while they’re trying to answer them.

Actually, one of my first thoughts was that Dean might not even realize he’s a demon right away-he might think that whatever he’s feeling is still the blade affecting him. You’re right in that he’ll probably find out fairly quickly though, and I do think that he won’t tell Sam. He’ll probably try to kill himself or something before Sam finds out (SOB). A demon curing scene between Jared and Jensen would be epic, but remember, in SPN there are no easy answers. I’m doubtful that Deamon will be resolved any time before the season 10 finale.
I think that next year (if the writers don’t screw up) we’ll get both self loathing and conflicted Dean, in addition to Sam trying to save his big brother. In other words, juicy plotlines for both Sam and Dean. I’m still holding out for a Sam vs. Dean showdown….
Personally, I thought that Cas was very integrated into the Winchester’s lives this year…up until the finale. It was really OOC not to have more of a reaction from Cas to Dean’s death, one of my only complaints about the finale.

“I’d be fine with Demon!Dean lasting only half a season a la Soulless Sam.”

Well I hated soulless Sam with a passion so half a season or more of not-Dean is pretty much my worst case scenario.

If we have demon Dean we don’t have real Dean and I love real Dean. We also don’t have any real brotherly interaction. As their bond is why I watch the show this would ruin it for me.

I have only sporadically watched this season/ I’m afraid JC has done what I once thought impossible – made me close to giving up on the show. More than an ep or 2 of demon Dean will be the final straw for me and I think I would stop watching altogether.

I like Real!Dean, too. Even before I became a fangirl and I was casually catching episodes while my husband watched. (yes, it’s true. Originally, he was the super fan, and often left me in the dust in terms of episode progression. My, how the tables have turned.)

But a show, especially a show like ours, can’t remain on air for 10 years by doing the same thing. Sometimes taking risks pays off, and sometimes it doesn’t. I think the brotherly strife this year hurt them, despite the highest ratings since S5.

And demon!Dean (or Deanmon, if you will) can be done without the brothers hating each other. It could be more along the lines of season 3, which I felt was a FANTASTIC season.

I really think it’d be a shame if you gave up on Show after only 2 eps of Deanmon. There’s a lot of potential here for some great storylines (as fanfiction has long since proved), and some truly extraordinary acting by Jensen.

If I’d enjoyed this season or if I had any confidence in JCs vision for the show or the brothers relationship I’d have more patience. But sadly JCs decisions have been chipping away at my love for the show since he took over.

Sam not looking for Dean was a body blow that almost ended my viewing. After the appalling Citizen Fang I almost gave up. He pulled me back in with the great second half of s8 culminating in the wonderful Sacrifice. But then s9 managed to stomp all over the progress that had been made. S9 was a bro bond free zone, as was the first half of s8. But worse than that, they rewrote in an disrespectful and ooc way the brothers bond and had them at odds for much of those periods. So after 2 seasons of JCs tenure we have only had 1/2 a season of both boys being themselves (ie not possessed / soulless etc) and not angry / in conflict. Sorry but as someone who watches for their strong bond that is asking too much of my patience.

So to be faced with another lengthy period where the normal interaction between the brothers won’t be possible ie because Dean is a demon is just too much for my already badly damaged relationship with SPN. Yes I suppose it would be great to see Sam save demon Dean. But a) I doubt that JC wants Sam to save Dean. He seems to view their saving each other as immature and unhealthy rather than the beautiful codependency that I watch for. And b) how many episodes (which are spread out over weeks / months) will I have to wait for the outcome I want that may or may not happen. And c) I love Dean primarily for his humanity. I have no desire to see him go dark as some seem to be eager for. Dean bears enough guilt without adding more deaths to his conscience. It fills me with dread to even think of it.

So I’m sorry if I sound jaded and negative. I can’t believe I’ve come to this point. I’ve never loved a show more than SPN, and I really believed nothing could tarnish my loyalty and support. JC seems to have managed the impossible. It breaks my heart!

My heart breaks for you. To lose confidence in the show would break my heart. I also have the same opinion about the prolonged Winchester estrangement. It didn’t ring true to me. It just felt wrong. The Sam we know would not act so hateful for so long. Even if he wanted to make a strong point about his independence he wouldn’t put Dean’s peace of mind and physical well-being at risk. He knows Dean well enough to know that taking out the “brother ” in their relationship would be agonizing for him. And then he watched as Dean was spiralling into his dark descent. If he was so concerned why didn’t he make up sooner to give Dean some hope. Anyway, I’m still hanging in there with the hope of a desperate woman that JC will get this show back on track with Sam and Dean united and at the helm of the Supernatural world.

“Can you imagine a demon curing scene between Jared & Jensen? Gah, they would kill it. Perfect 200th episode dontcha think??” Yes I think the boys would do a fantastic job on that. Having said that, the writers (fiends that they are) are probably going to put this all in a totally different direction that no one (well most people anyway) could predict.

I actually kind of liked Metatron and his over-the-top view of himself. The smarmy arrogance of it all was something to really despise, while I was still on the fence about Crowley. Ah Crowley, now Dean is a demon does he think that they will be best buddies?? Dean still has the blade and Crowley has pissed him off more than once. Kind of like keeping a tiger on a leash, no?

I agree that I would like to see Cain again. He and Dean have an interesting relationship but I really would like Sam to meet him. Track him down (Sam is smart enough and resourceful enough to do it) and have a real interesting…. conversation with him.

I also would like to see Sam getting into the spells, etc a bit more. He has the legacy, smarts and the MOL research to go off in a different direction and flex his knowledge. He could really be a force to reckon with.

As always, I enjoy these reviews and the comments. I end up looking for different things when I watch the episodes. (Yes I watch them over and over). Interesting wish lists. Hope the writers pay attention but then there are so many fans, wishes, sites etc, I doubt it very much. Now, hellatus!

Yes. I agree with you so much re: Cain, he would make an excellent antagonist for next season. The Cain/Sam dynamic could also give us some really juicy stuff-would Cain see the little brother that he lost in Sam?

The Dean piano theme is stuck in my head, tormenting me with emotions. Help? When that theme started playing in the ep I actually said “NO DON’T DO THIS TO ME” at my tv screen because I was already gutted and then they play THAT theme of all music to choose! But it was perfect. Over the past few seasons I’ve developed a wariness of the nature of the brother bond, more and more often it hit notes that hurt me in the wrong ways, instead of the cathartic, satisfying ways, and I felt the show refused to allow them to believably develop and grow. Season 9 made me really nervous because I was hopeful that this exhausting cycle through the boys in conflict again was to move things forward and I am pleased (if gutted) with 9.23.

I thought this had one of the best Sam and Dean moments I’ve seen in years. It hit me so hard, and with none of the things that have left me uneasy and doubtful about their ability to ever stand eye-to-eye and truly reconnect. Dean’s final words “I’m proud of us” meant many things to me. Dean was letting Sam know he was glad to be his brother. But if that’s all that was, Dean saying he believes all his worth is in being Sam’s brother? Then this arc was for nothing. We’ve gotten nowhere. One of the big issues is Dean’s lack of sense of self–he thinks he’s good for nothing but the “blunt little instrument” that John trained him to be and Sam’s protector. But we know Dean is more than that and Sam knows Dean is more than that and deep down inside Dean knows Dean is more than that. The fact that Dean used “us” made my heart sing.

We saw in S8 Sam fearing he was a burden, the screw up, and tainted. Sam wants to be treated as an equal partner, yet he’s dependent on Dean’s good opinion and on some level, his fears about being “tainted” are assuaged in seeing how Dean will give up everything for him, time and again. Dean wants to treat Sam like the adult he is, but can’t let go of being Sam’s protector and if he’s not being that he doesn’t know who he is. Not saying he should or will stop looking after Sam, but there are things that need to be acknowledged if the bond is to flourish, and some things that need to be allowed to shift, for the bond to endure.

My heart sank when Dean punched Sam, taking him out of the game to protect him, because that’s shades we saw in “dictator Dean” from 9.22. Not Sam as a partner, but Sam as the protected object and Dean calling all the shots.

But as Dean is dying (*SOB*) he speaks his heart in just a few words–he doesn’t think Sam’s a screw up, he’s proud of what they’ve accomplished together. He’s not just proud of Sam, Dean is seeing his OWN worth too. Which makes me hopeful for his S10 story and the fruition of this arc as well as how the brothers relate to each other.

I’m happy with Castiel’s character development this season and how he was explored as a great character in this own right, as well as his relationship with Dean (although I would have liked more Dean and Cas scenes). We also saw more Sam and Cas friendship, which made me happy, plus Sam and Cas teaming up in their worry for Dean. Sam and Dean and Cas as a trio/team/family unit is one of my favorite aspects of SPN and it was good to see that get more play (hopefully more tk in S10!)

I agree with you, Castiel’s reaction to learning of Dean’s death was so so heartbreaking. Also that Metatron outright taunted Castiel with how much he cares about Dean (and failed to save him). My heart broke in all the best ways. We knew Cas cares about Dean but this stated things on an overt level, combined with 9.22’s Castiel giving up an army for Dean followed by Metatron’s line “Castiel is in love…with humanity” and Dean’s “you gave it up for one guy” and this week’s echo of that, “to save one human.” The romantic narrative may never become canon, it’s SPN’s elephant in the room, but that thread at times pushes very hard against the boundaries between subtext and text. Either way, this was an overt statement on Castiel’s love (define it how you will) for Dean and was very affecting. The way the ep was edited, too–Dean falling intercut with the shattering angel tablet. Cas’s reaction to Dean’s death and Sam’s reaction to Dean’s death.

Kudos to Jared, Jensen, and Misha. Jensen especially was unusually gutting even for him, he keeps outdoing his own best.

I do think the finale had some pacing issues and there was too much monologuing that slowed things down. However I was really happy how season 9 and the finale gave Castiel his own strong story arc and I think in trying to develop that, things got a little top-heavy with random angel characters and dropped threads. But I’ve never felt Sam and Dean were sidelined from their own show–I see them as very central. They loom large, and always have, but in S8/S9 Jeremy Carver has been showing them as part of a bigger tapestry, which is something Eric Kripke did in S4/S5.

On Supernatural, death is the boy that cried wolf. I felt nothing when Dean died, I’ll admit I loved the ‘I’m proud of us’, but mostly because it was long overdue, they’ve died so many times now that I just can’t be drawn in anymore, I can’t cry or even be upset, all I am is angry. It feels like they’re stuck in an endless groundhog day, Mystery Spot on an endless repeat, where each brother takes a turn visiting hell. I’m disappointed and angry.

Spot. On.
As always, your review echos so many of my thoughts and adds more thinks to my meanderings on the ep. 🙂

This episode could have been all about Sam and Dean. Forgiveness, love, reconciliation, brotherly bond and finally, loss. I agree that FAR too much precious time was wasted on the angel/Metatron crap. I could have been easily managed in just 1/3 of the overall episode. And it would have eliminated much of the long-winded whinings of Metatron.

While Show has strayed a bit in the past couple seasons, it has shown itself so capable of still wrenching our hearts out and stomping them into the floor on the finale. So for that I thank you Show. My loyalty has not wavered.

We have a seemingly unending amount of time to conjecture and fanfic ourselves into a frenzy about what will befall our boys in Season 10. Our boys are heroes in every sense, flawed and beautifully broken and I can’t wait to see what comes our way next.

Time to get back to reading your wonderful books and immerse myself in the fandom while we wait out our hellatus sentence. Thank you for your wonderful reviews!!

What a fantastic review, Lynn! I have to agree with you hook, line and sinker. I was totally spoiled for this last episode, so no gutting happened, but when they played “Americana”, or what has come to be my headcanon for The Winchester’s Song, I melted a little. That song, more than Carry On, hits me in my heartplace. Makes me wibble, every time. It’s truly beautiful.

Season Nine was a real mixed bag. It had some incredibly clumsy moments and far too much angel politicking (which wouldn’t have been so bad if the writers had put more time into developing interesting and nuanced angel characters instead of killing everyone, willy-nilly.) Maybe they should’ve referenced Band of Brothers for what to do RIGHT in a wartime ensemble cast. And tying it into the Winchester’s arc and interests more solidly wouldn’t have hurt, either. I get that J2 need a little time off, what with their new families and God knows they’ve earned it, but Cas’ thread still needs to feel tied into the whole shebang better, or SPN will become more of a soap opera format than Sam and Dean’s story. And let’s face it: this is Sam and Dean’s story. That relationship is Stone Number One.

I hope they continue to go super dark for the first few episodes of S10! I’d love to see Jensen explore demon!Dean (though to be honest, I wasn’t particularly sold on how Show depicted Dean’s decent into MoC addiction, but I think that was a pacing thing; they dragged it out too thinly. 23 episodes is a LOT to fill, but they went from zero to sixty in a way that stretched credulity for me.) I’ve always believed that Jensen plays the tighter, more intimate scenes better, and Jared is better with sharp angles and sudden turns. So this will test both of their mettle!

I’ve got no idea what they’re gonna do with the angel thread from here on out. Where is God? Is he still MIA or does he not exist anymore? Will Heaven become a democracy? Angels are not built for that sort of rule. I’m interested to see what the writers decide, but above all, don’t isolate that plot thread from the Big Picture. I liked Curtis Armstrong’s performance in The Closer A LOT; not so much as Metatron. (The movie Dogma has forever tainted me, there. Dogma’s Metatron was incredible! :D) I guess what I’d like to see, for Cas, is his struggle between keeping his angelhood and the quite possible decent into being human. Forever. Also, all the Sam-&-Cas moments as they work together to save Dean. Ultimately, it should be Sam (because his character arc NEEDS this to happen), but the Winchesters have taught Cas most of what he knows of humanity, really. The good, the bad. They are his only friends, really. Ramble ramble ramble.

And Sam. Oh, Sam. Will we get your POV in S10, now that Dean is hardly himself? Dean has always been our pivot point, the character who is so much easier to understand. Sam has been anything BUT himself for the bulk of the show. It’s no wonder the writers have a tough time writing him. But this is it; this is that time. I hope Carver has a sit-down with them and they hash out who Sam Winchester is, free of angels, demons, magic, and fully souled. And they stop using Sam as a plot device to cause drama, speaking in half-formed thoughts and behaving in ways that defy explanation. (Part of me defiantly wants Dean to tempt Sam with his own blood and both of them go grandly eeeeevil, but that’s a fanfic for another day. ;))

Show running is not easy. And this is not the same SPN of the Kripke era. I’m still in it until the end, but I watch it with different expectations. I’m looking forward to seeing what unspools in S10, and goodness knows, it’ll be a bumpy ride.

I totally agree with this: “How I wish we could have had half a season to explore Dean’s growing addiction to the Mark of Cain, hiding how much he craved it, coughing up blood when he didn’t have it, with Sam and Cas growing more and more concerned”

We have wasted so much time on Metatron and the angel war how much better it would have been if we’d had more of Dean’s addiction and Sam and Cas’ concern. Why they didn’t do that I will never know. I hope they pay attention to these comments for S10.

Unfortunately this ‘no better than Ok’ finale went almost nowhere in making up for what, IMO, has been by some margin the poorest season of SPN.

This season has failed on so many levels;

– my main and overarching issue has been the extremely poor characterisation and the utter failure of JC to understand Sam and Dean and how their relationship works. Sam would never have said the words they forced into his mouth in 9.13 to Dean. And if he did say some hurtful things in the heat of a moment he would not let Dean continue to believe he didn’t love him, didn’t want to be brothers, thought he was a selfish coward etc for months on end. The result of this repetitive, redundant and ooc storyline, combined with possessed Sam for the first half of the season, meant s9 had almost no normal interaction between the brothers. Their bond is why I any many others watch the show. That JC values it so little, understands it so poorly and gave it so little screentime is the main reason why I pretty much hated most of s9. After the appalling, ooc, and character-assassinating decision that Sam wouldn’t look for Dean in s8 my trust in JC and my love of this show was at an all time low mid s8. But the last half of s8, and Sacrifice, really pulled me back in. Sadly that amazing scene was trashed and devalued almost straight away, and the brilliant concept of the angels falling was never satisfactorily realised.

– linked to the point above, the increasingly boring, repetitive tendency to use the brothers bond as a source of conflict and drama, instead of that coming from outside, is lazy no longer convincing and no fun to watch. Plus the more often they do it, the more they damage the bond – to the point where that Humpty Dumpty can never be put back together again. I know a lot of fans who no longer believe in the brothers bond and who no longer sympathise at all with Sam. For some the rot started in s4, for others it was (unfairly IMO) soulless Sam, Sam not looking (that aggregious decision alone permanently destroyed Sam and the bond for a sizeable minority of fans), and for others it was Sam’s reaction to his possession in 9.13 and beyond. Even if a % of these fans are won back by the occasional Sacrifice-like beautiful moment the writers cannot leave the relationship alone so no lasting progress is ever made. This has created divisions between the brothers, but also within the fandom that both combine to suck all the fun out of being a SPN fan for me.

– the ‘big bads’ were poor and disconnected from D&Ss story. To me there was no huge threat to humanity from either demons or angels apart from for the humans used as vessels which has always been there to some extent. It was not a potential apocalypse. Neither side was very interested in earth – just getting control of heaven and hell respectively. It all felt pointless and disconnected from Dean and Sam’s story and they felt disconnected from the fight. Why did Dean feel so determined to kill Abbadon? Is she really so much worse than pre-partially cured Crowley who they happily allowed to be King of Hell for years without making killing him their main goal? Someone has to be in charge of hell. Why does it matter which of them it was?

– Dean and Sam are being demoted as heroes. Yes they saved a few people over the season but their scorecard since JC took over doesn’t make good reading. THEY are responsible for all 3 of the big bads this season. THEY flushed Metatron out of hiding. THEY resurrected a neutralised Abbaddon (in one of their more idiotic moments). THEY failed to kill / cure Crowley when they had the chance. THEY failed to close Hell. And DEAN gave Gadreel the access to kill Kevin. If they had not started the trials (which they never completed) we’d have no Abbaddon, no Metatron and no Gadreel. None of this was intentional of course, and I loved the choice they made in Sacrifice. But it does beg the question – are Dean and Sam really helping humanity any more? That the answer to that is highly questionable is entirely JCs fault.

– the angels are dull, dull, dull. And Cas’s separate story this season was also dull. I like Cas but the Herculean efforts the writers have to go to to keep the continued presence of this super-powerful being in the show from sucking all the drama and danger out of it are increasingly silly. So now after heaven de-powering him, heaven brainwashing him, him being a traitor, him losing his marbles, him losing his memory, him being human we now have his grace wearing off . It stretches credulity too far IMO.

I could go on and on but I’ve rambled too much already. I’ll finish by saying that the absolute stone number one of good writing – particularly in a long running TV show – is consistent characterisation. Without believable characters we feel we know and love, no amount of creativity around mytharcs, bad guys, monsters, and the obstacles put in their way will mean anything. We won’t care what happens to the characters if it seems the writers are bending the characters to the stories rather than the other way around. I will never forgive JC for the Sam not looking for Dean decision. He has compounded that error this season by trying to tell us their incredibly strong bond is unhealthy, immature and so broken it needs destroying before it can be rebuilt when in fact HE did the ‘breaking’ – bending the characters way out of shape to achieve it – and I don’t buy his vision of a ‘more mature’ relationship.

I’m actually dreading s10. I suspect we’ll waste at least half of it on demon Dean, separate from Sam – mirroring (can they really NOT come up with an original idea) the dragged out, poorly realised Soulless Sam story. We’ll have ep after ep without one of the main characters (as the real human Dean we love will no doubt be nowhere in sight) and without the brothers relationship. Sorry that is not what I signed up for.

“How I wish we could have had half a season to explore Dean’s growing addiction to the Mark of Cain, hiding how much he craved it, coughing up blood when he didn’t have it, with Sam and Cas growing more and more concerned.”

I agree with you so much!! When Sam was going thru his demon blood addiction, we got to much more of it. I feel like Dean’s Mark of Cain addiction was just kinda glossed over. And then, BOOM! I’m addicted and I’m coughing up blood.

“[Gadreel’s] sacrifice carried an emotional impact because Tahmoh sold that scene so well. ”

His, “Run, Sister” just had me wailing. In the end he remembered that she was his sister and did not want to cause her harm.

“And then Sam sitting alone, drinking….storming into the dungeon the way Dean screeched the Impala toward the crossroads, demanding that another demon appear.”

Its so interesting how this is exactly the opposite of the end of Season 7 and the beginning of Seanson 8. Then, Sam did nothing to find Dean in Purgatory. He was content to let Dean go and try to live a normal life. He has come completely full circle.

“Perhaps he wants a Knight of Hell who will do his bidding too, but it feels like more than that.”

I theorize that he will try to to make Dean do his bidding but will utterly fail. Also, in regards to Crowley, I wonder if Gavin will make a reappearance and if his being saved from death in the 1700’s will factor into next season’s story?

“Its so interesting how this is exactly the opposite of the end of Season 7 and the beginning of Seanson 8. Then, Sam did nothing to find Dean in Purgatory. He was content to let Dean go and try to live a normal life. He has come completely full circle.”

If by ‘full circle’ you mean that he ALWAYS moves heaven and earth (sometimes literally) to save his brother apart from the one time he didn’t for no credible reason whatsoever except that JC wanted to shake things up and doesn’t get Sam, Dean or their bond? And if by ‘interesting’ you mean ‘poor and inconsistent writing / characterisation’ then I am totally with you.

Sam has always looked for / tried to save Dean. He did it in Faith, in IMToD, all the way through s3, in Mystery Spot, after Dean went to hell, in PONR, in Caged Heat (even though he was soulless), in Time after Time and many other times throughout season 1-7. And, completely as expected and as his character has always done before, he did it again in 9.23 – summoning Crowley, ready to pay whatever price necessary to save his brother. The boys will always have each others back. It is part of who they are. It is hard wired into their DNA. So can someone remind me again…..why didn’t Sam look for Dean after he went to Purgatory?

Sam trying to save Dean in 9.23 isn’t character development. It isn’t evidence of growth or learning. It is just Sam doing what Sam always does when Dean needs him to. He didn’t shut down in some kind of unlikely and unprecedented offscreen mental breakdown. He didn’t run away to get a dog and girlfriend. He didn’t justify a lack of action by spouting rubbish about (non existent) deals they made not to save each other. He didn’t use Dean’s death as an opportunity to go back to that ordinary life he has supposedly always wanted (even though he gave up on it way back in s2). He didn’t do any of those things because Sam’s character would never and has never reacted in any of those ways to losing / needing to save Dean. Oh – except for that one time…..

Sorry for the sarcasm. It really isn’t aimed at you. It is just that the finale has brought back all the bitterness and disappointment I felt at that dreadful, ooc, damaging to Sam’s character and to the bro bond decision JC made – probably in his first week on the job – to have Sam not look for Dean.

Dang it Lynn you had me crying all over again. Wonderful review. By the time I got to your line:

“And then the realization, the overwhelming, primal grief. Jared looked ruined at that moment, utterly and completely.

I couldn’t see the television screen for a while after that.”

That is where I lost it again and as if I haven’t shed enough tears over this finale, yes I keep rewatching it because I am a glutten for punishment, then I read your review and it starts all over again.

I was very sad to see them kill off Gadreel (although like you I knew it was coming) but I was hoping all along that he would turn out to be good and a very useful allie for the guys.

Metatron, that is one guy that I am so very tired of and want him gone, especially now that he has killed Dean. It’s the character that I just hate, Curtis is doing a remarkable job taking us where they want us to be with his character but I am so done with him. Cas needs to find his stolen grace and step up to the plate and be all that he can be.

Then there is the Js. What more can be said about their acting abilities that has not already been said over and over. These two are the most beautiful people I have ever taken the time to invest myself on as far as tv personalities are concerned. Watching the tears in Jared’s eyes knowing how he feels about Jensen, one knows that they are real and that more than likely, without even having to ask him, he went to a place where it really was Jensen who died and the feelings just came out. Then Jensen’s death scenes and his final words, “I’m proud of us!” oh just put a fork in me because I am done. That whole scene with Crowley talking to him, those shots where you just knew Jensen had to be holding his breath and took himself to a place where absolutely nothing moved to convince us he was really gone, well that was a remarkable job in itself. When Jensen said at the CW Upfronts, “it’s a real eye opener, Remember I said that.” I have to admit I expected the scene to be him with black eyes but even so, it still just tugged at me where it hurts.

In closing here, I just wanted to add that was wonderful to finally meet you and Kathy at the D.C. con earlier this month and have you both sign your books that I brought with me. Hope to see you at more cons, like Vancon this year.

I guess that I’m one of the only people who’s going to say that I absolutely hated the season finale. I felt absolutely nothing at all when I watched it. Yes, I was shocked when Metatron stabbed Dean. But Dean’s been dead before. As has Sam. I’m afraid that I’m all cried out over their previous deaths. I don’t have anything left to give to this show that I used to love more than anything else I’ve ever watched on television. This show that has let me down so profoundly and made me feel so foolish for ever recommending it to family and friends to watch. I cringe now whenever I think of it.

I just felt that this season sucked in so many ways. I hate it when the boys don’t get along. I hated it when Dean told Sam that it wasn’t his fight. LIKE HELL. That’s actually what I said to the tv when I was watching and shaking my head. That was probably the one and only reaction that the episode got out of me. It’s unfortunate but it is what it is.

We used to talk a lot about Demon!Dean on my old blog right after Sam got possessed by Meg in my all time favorite episode of the show, “Born Under A Bad Sign”. I know one thing for sure. Jensen will knock it out of the park next season playing Dean as a demon. I don’t feel sorry for him and for the things that he will do. Because in my heart I know his little brother will do everything in his power to save him and bring him back to the righteous side of things.

Hey Lynn. Thanks for review as always. I don’t disagree with a lot of what you say, when you dismantle the various scenes – especially the PCA moment (WTF?) – but for me the sum was greater than its parts and I was blown away by the finale🙂

And I am SO glad I am so spoilerphobic as I must fall into the 5% who did not know Dean was going to go demon and my jaw hit the floor when he opened his eyes!

I was also completely shocked and devastated and, even 3 rewatches later, physically cringe each time I see Dean stabbed. It looks and sounds horrifying real. And the whole ‘I lied’, ‘I am proud of you’, Dean dying against Sam’s shoulder (mirror image to AHBL2), Sam’s heartbreak? Gut-wrenching, soul-shattering, heartbreaking.

I can’t believe Supernatural, Sam and Dean, and Jared and Jensen can STILL surprise me and uplift me and destroy me the way they do nine years in; Jared’s face – the depth he conveys…. And of course, Jensen Ackles. Holy crap, Ackles. Have a heart. We’re only flesh and blood!

I’m a Winchester brothers fan, so the Castiel stuff was fine, but not riveting. I realise this is ‘sacrilege’, but I’m not a Mark Sheppard/Crowley fan. But the scenery remained pleasantly unchewed this time around and the final speech rang true. I am, however, in the love-to-hate Metatron camp, though I can see your point about eating up screen time for Sam’s POV and Mark of Cain. I did love Tahmoh though, and really hope they find a way to bring him back. Plus, I am so sad Alaina is gone. Abaddon was phenomenal and, for me, Supernatural needs a powerful female character like that.

Am SO excited for Season 10 (‘Are we there YET?’, a la Shrek donkey). Wish list? Jody Mills and Alex and Kevin and Cain and somehow Abbadon and Gadreel and Gabriel… the angel storyline over…more (many more) Robbie Thompson and Robert Berens written episodes (and please let the one Jensen directs be one of theirs) and more Guy Bee, Thomas Wright, PJ Pesce, Stefan Pleszczynski and John Badham directed ones.

I SOOOOOO agree with you!
Well, first,enlish is not my first language, so be warned!
I guess I’m not the only one who’s not happy with this ending. Dean a Deamon, come on man, don’t give me 23 more episodes of brotherfight, PLEASE!!!
Where are the times when Sam and Dean actually will be brothers again and not fight each other? Is Sam still the Sam I know the last 9 years or do the writers totaly forget him in this season?
Don’l kill me Dean- Girl’s…but sorry, a Dean without a Sam is like a fish without water. Sure Dean was in terrible need of a story, but definitly not like THIS. Hello writers they are still BROTHERS!!! That what makes the show so special. Caring for each other, looking out for each other, okay fight sometimes, but not like this.
Can somebody tell the writers to find a propper storyline for each actor? Who needs a spinoff? Who needs poor stories like about Tessa (I LIKE Tessa but the story was low). The MoC was a great idea but the storytelling,well what shall I say?
So, do I want to know what’s going on in season 10?
YES!
If I can see TWO brothers hunting things,saving people, the family business!
NO,if I see more angle crap (I LIKE Cas, really!) , no storyline for each brother/actor and I want to see a Sam that fights for his brother. And Dean to be a BIG brother again.
So now I’ve let off some steam…sorry for that.

I’m happy to see that some fans were happy with the finale. I was about as unhappy as I could possibly be. I agree that the angel story felt like it didn’t mesh at all. In fact, it was so boring I had to watch some of the scenes 3 times because my mind wandered during them the first 2 – I cared so little. Too much talking in the angel storyline and not nearly enough in the Winchester storyline. I think you contradict yourself a little when you say the brothers say so little but perfectly understand each other… then point out the misunderstandings that ensue. They _never_ manage to actually say anything. Where is the season long promise of they will come to a more mature understanding and relationship? We never got that. However, the thing that is the nail in the coffin of this show for me, is Dean’s black eyes. The one thing that has always been at this characters heart is his humanity. Metatron even singles that out as the thing that Cas “loves” about Dean. And Carver strips him of THAT? Really? Dean manages to get through 40 years in Hell – 10 of them actually acting like a demon, yet he never loses his humanity and NOW he does? Carver clearly has no understanding of what Kripke’s show is about or what the core of Dean Winchester is about. There is literally nothing else he could have done to more clearly prove that to me. So in answer to your question am I looking forward to season 10? I’m not even sure that I will be watching. And as you know me, and how much time I’ve spent with this show, that should say something…

I am with you totally on the Dean becoming a demon, it is so not right and I am a little surprised that Jensen was so stoked about this story line considering he often says how protective he feels about Dean. As I said in my post I am struggling to stay after a whole season of non brothers and to do this to Dean is just too much.

Thank you for your analysis of “im proud of us” THANK YOU. When i watched it at first , i didnt understand. Last episode ended with “this is a dictatorship” so it felt…anticlimactic. Besides i always felt like that the only thing Dean would be proud of is Sam because he raised him and now he is a hero and the “us” made it feel like dean was also proud of himself for something else which is weird cause he is drowning in selfloathing

I m SO interested to see how Season 10 starts! I envision Crowley and Dean answering Sam’s summons. Sam sees Dean’s eyes. Then (shades of Yellow Fever), SAM:
No! You get out of my brother, you evil son of a bitch!
BLACK EYED DEAN
No one’s possessing me, Sam. This is what I was going to become. This is what I want to become. There’s nothing you can do about it.

Hi, I’ve been reading your reviews for a while and I felt the need to thank you for keeping fans connected to the Show and open to discussion. Great work and devotion on your part! I appreciate it honestly!
As for what I wish from S10… a rich and creative implementation of ideas! Because these are the qualities that S9 lacked… there were many good ideas, but were poorly realized. The angels falling was a great idea, but apparently the writers didn’t really know what to do about it. So the outcome was lame and boring. The same went for Abbadon, who didn’t do anything at all the whole season… inespecably! She just stand there holding speaches as Metatron did. Both wonderful actores impersonating interesting characters but who didn’t get very much to work with. And for that reason, on my opinion, came out as obnoxious (expecially Metatron). The same goes for the brothers: I wasn’t upset from the angst and drama but from the lack of a good implementation of it! Can’t the writers describe a muture relationship beetween two brothers who love each other but are not always on the same wavelenght? Sam and Dean were at odds but that’s not the bad thing. The bad thing was that they didn’t had the possibility to talk, to relate with each other, if not for really short and repetitive occasions the WHOLE season. I think/hope that the need to give Jared and Jensen more free time (deserved!!!) is one reason, but the rest is all bad writing. How is not talking about their problems a mature behavior? Their fight just seamed childish…
So, I hoping that S10 wont screw up Deamon! I think that Dean has to be evil and proud of it after his trasformation or were’s the point in trying to cure him? I’d finally like to see a carefree Dean, with no loathing and guilt. Pure and wild as he was during his time in purgatory (only happier about it). I’d love to see Jensen act like that. (Was I the only one who thought that Jensen looked thinner and proved this season? Must have been a rough time for him, newly father and with a darker/depressed Dean to act!)
Anyway, I just hope in more detailes, little acts and deep emotions to show, ’cause the mithology is not that important (expecially if they can’t keep it in line! Tessa docet!)

Sorry for my english, its not my first (not even second) lenguage!😛 But I hope someone got what I was trying to say! I love this Show very much and I pray the writers to give it the glorious End it desevers!! Whenever it comes by!

We seem to agree on a lot of points for season 9 as well as the final episode. I too think too much time was spent on the angel war and Metatron.
I love Supernatural because they have always granted the viewer with glimpses large and small, of the deep rooted foundation of brotherly love shared by two brothers. However, these past few seasons have left me parched for more. I feel like huge moments were wasted. As if the “captain” of the ship has forgotten the real goal of the journey, killing things, saving people, the FAMILY business.
I’m hoping season 10 will see a return to a more solid story line with less fractured episodes. I will continue to watch because I love the brothers, because I admire the talent of both Jensen and Jared and because the show has always had the guts to not stagnate and become formulaic. Even if sometimes I don’t like where they take us, I will follow to the end. I’m a fan, through thick and thin.

I didn’t get as emotional as you did about Dean’s death but I did scream out loud when he opened his demon eyes. Even though I saw it coming, I couldn’t help myself. What have they done to our Dean? I miss him so much it hurts. Please, PLEASE, SPN writers… save our Dean! And honestly, I would love for Sam to “save” Dean but I don’t care who does it, just please bring him back so he can be snarky and dorky all at the same time…😥

Seriously? Something isn’t centered completely around the boys and you all have a hissy fit? I loved seeing a deviation from the norm. Castiel is a big boy and doesn’t need hand-holding by the Winchesters via storyline. There was a war going on that he felt guilty about, since he did kind of SLAUGHTER a good chunk of the angels. The storyline was somewhat split because Castiel had his own thing going on. A story is about more than just the lead characters.

Like Crowley himself said: Doing the same thing all over again gets OLD. They needed to throw a monkey wrench into the usual flow of things. Sam and Dean can’t always save each other. I know it’s a fantasy show (Scifi? Really? Where’s the science behind angels, demons, and vampires?) but there’s always been an element of logic and realism behind the way the story line behaves. Fathers leave, good people die. This isn’t a Disney fairy tale where everything has a happy ending and goes the way YOU want. You create a show, you do what you want.

Fan Phenomena: Supernatural on Amazon

Fangasm on Amazon

Fandom at the Crossroads on Amazon

Fan Culture: Theory/Practice on Amazon

Our Story

This is the story of two college professors who fell hard for a show called Supernatural. Obsession, devotion, fascination, call it what you will. We decided to figure out what was going on with us by writing a book on fandom from the fans' perspective. As academics do, we hit the libraries and internet, accumulating stacks of articles and hundreds of pages of research. We typed and revised and theorized, quoted and footnoted, and ended up with an academic text crammed full of the current scholarship on fandom.

This is not that book.

Somewhere along the line, the research took a back seat to the road trip as we traveled across the US and Canada interviewing the show’s fans, as well as the actors and directors, writers, journalists, bloggers, convention organizers, significant others and insignificant hangers-on. Fangasm! is the story of that year-long roadtrip -- the surprises we never saw coming, the secrets uncovered, the behind-the-scenes insights, the heartwarming and heartbreaking fan confessions. It’s also the story of our shared obsession and the friendship that sustains us through 4 am line-ups, overtaxed credit cards, canceled flights and airport camp-outs, and of course the occasional accusations of insanity.

Order Fangasm now from Amazon by clicking the link at the top of this page.

Media Coverage

Check out the February 2016 issue of Nylon Magazine - we're quoted in an article about fandom!

What Else We’re Writing

We've written several articles for Supernatural Magazine, including features on the fan convention experience, and behind the scenes on the set. We have also written the academic version of this story, Fandom at the Crossroads: Celebration, Shame and Fan/Producer Relationships , and edited a collection on fan culture, Fan Culture: Theory/Practice.
You can also order our book Fan Phenomena: Supernatural, with chapters by cast, crew and fans of Supernatural. Check out what Misha Collins and Richard Speight, Jr. have to say in their insightful (and amusing) chapters. Click the links at the top of the page to order.

And coming in May 2017, look for an exciting new book - Family Don't End With Blood: Cast and Fans on How Supernatural Changed Lives with powerful chapters by ten Supernatural actors including Jared Padalecki!

Kathy is also the Principal Editor and Lynn on the Editorial Board of The Journal Of Fandom Studies, published by Intellect. The most recent issue is available now.